HMS Curlew (1812) was a Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 Cruizer class brig-sloop

Cruizer class brig-sloop

The Cruizer class was an 18-gun class of brig-sloops of the Royal Navy. Brig-sloops were the same as ship-sloops except for their rigging...

 built by (William) Good & Co., at Bridport

Bridport

Bridport is a market town in Dorset, England. Located near the coast at the western end of Chesil Beach at the confluence of the River Brit and its Asker and Simene tributaries, it originally thrived as a fishing port and rope-making centre...

 and launched in 1812. She served with the Navy for only 10 years. During the War of 1812

War of 1812

The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...

 she sailed from Halifax

City of Halifax

Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...

 and captured several American privateers. Her greatest moment was her role in the 1819 British occupation of Ras al-Khaimah

Ras al-Khaimah

Ras al-Khaimah is one of the emirates of the United Arab Emirates , in the east of the Persian Gulf. It is in the northern part of the UAE bordering Oman's exclave. The capital city and home of most residents is also called Ras al-Khaimah. The city has a population of 263,217 as of 2008. The city...

. Curlew was sold in 1822 in Bombay. She then had a 13 or so year career as an opium runner for James Matheson

James Matheson

Sir James Nicolas Sutherland Matheson, 1st Baronet , born in Shiness, Lairg, Sutherland, Scotland, was the son of Captain Donald Matheson, a Scottish trader in India...

, one of the founders of the firm Jardine Matheson

Jardine Matheson Holdings

Jardine Matheson Holdings Limited often referred to as Jardines, is a multinational corporation incorporated in Bermuda and based in Hong Kong. While listed on the London Stock Exchange and the Singapore Exchange, the vast majority of Jardines shares are traded in Singapore...

.

War of 1812

Commander Michael Head was appointed to Curlew on 27 June 1812 and commissioned her in July. He sailed her for North America on 28 August.Head was a native of Nova Scotia having been born to physician in Halifax

City of Halifax

Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...

. On 31 October, Curlew was in company with , and when Shannon captured the privateer brig Thorn. Thorn was armed with eighteen long 9-pounders and had a crew of 140 men.

Next month, on 6 November, Curlew and the same squadron recaptured the brig Friendship. A privateer had captured her while she was sailing from Quebec to Tenerife.

In March 1813, Nymphe, and Curlew sent in to Halifax a ship from Wiscasset, that had been bound for Saint Barts. On April 2, Curlew brought into Halifax the American letter of marquee Volante of 22 guns, or 14 guns, and 90 men. Actually, Volante was pierced for 22 guns but carried only ten 24-pounder carronades and four long 9-pounders, giving her a broadside roughly half that of Curlew's. Taking Volante involved an exchange of shots but no casualties were reported.

On 2 May 1813 the American frigates and fell in with Curlew. Fortunately, Head was able to out-sail them and she escaped. Nineteen days later, Curlew and the frigate Tenedos captured the American privateer schooner Enterprise, of four guns and 91 men, out of Salem. Enterprise had been on a four month-long cruise off Brazil but had not taken any prizes.

In August 1813, Curlew and Nymphe captured two small prizes. On 12 August they took the fishing vessel The Gennet. Then five days later they captured the sloop Endeavor, sailing from Castine to Boston.

On 9 April she captured the brig Plutus. Then on 4 May she captured the Spanish brig Maria Francisca, which Victorious

HMS Victorious (1808)

HMS Victorious was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched at Bucklers Hard on 20 October 1808, just five years after the previous had been broken up....

 had earlier captured, as had . On 25 May Curlew recaptured the Ontario. That same day, together with , she recaptured the brig Two Brothers. The next day, Curlew and Martin recaptured the brig Thomas and Sally.

On 28 May 1814 Curlew was in Halifax, having retaken and sent in the Ontario and other vessels. Commander Hugh Pearson assumed command in June after Head was promoted to post-captain

Post-Captain

Post-captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of captain in the Royal Navy.The term served to distinguish those who were captains by rank from:...

 on 7 June. She arrived at Portsmouth on 24 June 1815. From November to January 1817 she was Chatham undergoing repairs. Between February and April 1818 she was fitted for sea. Commander William Walpole commissioned her for the East Indies.

East Indies

On 8 May Curlew was at Mauritius. On 18 August 1819 Curlew was reported to be cruising in the Persian Gulf. By September she was in Bombay. On the way 15 large Joasmi Arab boats attacked her. After five hours of fighting she had sunk three and captured seven.

Rear Admiral King appointed Capt. Francis Augustus Collier of to command the naval portion of a joint navy-army punitive expedition against the pirates at Ras al-Khaimah

Ras al-Khaimah

Ras al-Khaimah is one of the emirates of the United Arab Emirates , in the east of the Persian Gulf. It is in the northern part of the UAE bordering Oman's exclave. The capital city and home of most residents is also called Ras al-Khaimah. The city has a population of 263,217 as of 2008. The city...

 in the Persian Gulf. The naval force was to consist of Liverpool, , Curlew, several East India Company

East India Company

The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...

 cruisers, and a number of gun and mortar boats. Later several vessels belonging to the Sultan of Muscat

Said bin Sultan, Sultan of Muscat and Oman

Said bin Sultan Al-Said was Sultan of Muscat and Oman from November 20, 1804 to June 4, 1856. He became joint ruler of the country along with his brother Salim on the death of their father, Sultan bin Ahmad, in 1804...

 joined them. On the army side, Major General Sir William Keir commanded some 5,000 troops in transports.

The punitive expedition anchored off Ras-al-Khaimah on 2 December, but waited for two days before landing the troops. Collier placed Walpole in charge of the gun boats and an armed pinnace

Pinnace (ship's boat)

As a ship's boat the pinnace is a light boat, propelled by sails or oars, formerly used as a "tender" for guiding merchant and war vessels. In modern parlance, pinnace has come to mean a boat associated with some kind of larger vessel, that doesn't fit under the launch or lifeboat definitions...

 to protect the landing, which was, however, unopposed.. On 4 December Curlew approached the shore and from there fired on the town, but with little effect. On 8 December the Navy took three 24-pounders from Liverpool and brought them onshore. These were much more effective. When the troops entered the town on 9 December they found that the inhabitants had all fled. The siege cost the British five dead and 52 men wounded. The Arabs reportedly had lost a thousand dead.

The British then spent December and early January moving up and down the coast destroying forts and vessels. The capture and destruction of the fortifications and ships in the port was a massive blow for the Gulf pirates. The Royal Navy suffered no casualties during the action.

In December Commander George Gambier replaced Walpole who had received a promotion to Post-captain

Post-Captain

Post-captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of captain in the Royal Navy.The term served to distinguish those who were captains by rank from:...

 for his role in the attack on the pirates. Walpole returned to Britain as captain of . In April 1820 Lieutenant The Right Honourable Price Blackwood replaced Gambier.Blackwood was later the fourth Baron Dufferin and Claneboye

Baron Dufferin and Claneboye

Baron Dufferin and Claneboye, of Ballyleidy and Killyleagh in County Down, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created 31 July 1800 for Dorcas, Lady Blackwood. She was the widow of Sir John Blackwood, 2nd Baronet, Member of the Irish Parliament for Killyleagh and Bangor...

, of Ballyleidy and Killyleeagh, county Down (1800), and the fifth Baronet (1763). (Blackwood was promoted to Commander on 4 June 1821.) In November 1820 Curlew participated in another punitive expedition, but due to disagreement between Blackwood and Captain Thompson of the Army, a naval force did not accompany the army inland and so missed the debacle that followed. Later, Blackwood sailed Curlew to the China seas.

On 28 December 1822, the Admiralty sold Curlew to James Matheson at Bombay for 15,100 rupee

Rupee

The rupee is the common name for the monetary unit of account in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan, Mauritius, Seychelles, Maldives, and formerly in Burma, and Afghanistan. Historically, the first currency called "rupee" was introduced in the 16th century...

s. He renamed her Jamesina.

Opium running

Jamesina proceeded to run opium for more than a decade thereafter. The reason Matheson bought a naval vessel was that the opium merchants had found that their firepower was an effective deterrent to Chinese pirates and customs officials. Although the naval vessels were not designed to carry cargo, opium was compact. Crews were mixed. One report gives the Jamesina's crew in 1832 as consisting of 10 Europeans, 54 Indian lascars and four Chinese staff.

By the 1830s opium was the single most valuable commodity traded in the world. Though the trade was illegal, there was no shortage of suppliers. In 1830, the new steam tug Forbes towed Jamesina, carrying 840 chests of Bengal opium, from Calcutta to Singapore, from where Jamesina proceeded under sail. In 1833 Jamesina sold £330,000 worth of opium at Foochow

Fuzhou

Fuzhou is the capital and one of the largest cities in Fujian Province, People's Republic of China. Along with the many counties of Ningde, those of Fuzhou are considered to constitute the Mindong linguistic and cultural area....

, Amoy

Xiamen

Xiamen , also known as Amoy , is a major city on the southeast coast of the People's Republic of China. It is administered as a sub-provincial city of Fujian province with an area of and population of 3.53 million...

, Ningpo

Ningbo

Ningbo is a seaport city of northeastern Zhejiang province, Eastern China. Holding sub-provincial administrative status, the municipality has a population of 7,605,700 inhabitants at the 2010 census whom 3,089,180 in the built up area made of 6 urban districts. It lies south of the Hangzhou Bay,...

and other Chinese ports.

There are reports that in the mid-1930s Jardine-Matheson used Jamesina as a storeship for opium. It is not clear when and what her final disposition was.

Reference

• Akins, Thomas Beamish (1895) History of Halifax city. (Halifax, Nova Scotia).
• Booth, Martin (1999) Opium: a history. (New York: St. Martin's Griffin). ISBN 9780312206673
• Janin, Hunt (1999) The India-China opium trade in the nineteenth century. (Jefferson, NC [u.a.]: McFarland & Co.). ISBN 978-0786407156
• Kienast, Evabeth Miller & John Phillip Felt (2009) Lewis Coolidge and the voyage of the Amethyst, 1806-1811. (Columbia, S.C.: University of South Carolina Press). ISBN 978-1570038167
• Low, Charles Rathbone (1877) History of the Indian navy. (1613-1863). (London: R. Bentley & son).
• Murdoch, Beamish (1865-67) A history of Nova-Scotia, or Acadie. (Halifax, N.S.: J. Barnes).
• Nova Scotia. Vice-admiralty court, Halifax (1911) American vessels captured by the British during the revolution and war of 1812. (The Essex institute).
• Norie, J. W. (1827) The naval gazetteer, biographer, and chronologist : containing a history of the late wars, from their commencement in 1793 to their conclusion in 1801 ; and from their re-commencement in 1803 to their final conclusion in 1815 ; and continued, as to the biographical part, to the present time. (London: Printed for and published by J.W. Norie & Co.).
• Spears, John Randolph (1897) The history of our Navy from its origin to the present day, 1775-1897. (C. Scribner's Sons).
• White, Barbara-Sue (1994) Turbans and Traders: Hong Kong's Indian Communities. (Oxford Univ. Press – East Asia). ISBN 978-0195852875